Brandon Roy wants to come back to the NBA next fall, and teams are lined up to give him a shot.

The three-time All-Star had serious knee issues the last couple years of his career — we’re talking bone-on-bone issues — which caused the Trail Blazers to use their amnesty provision on him. On the advice of doctors, he decided to retire.

But Roy is about as competitive a guy as there is in the league and shutting it down at age 26 was never likely to stick. So a year later he is working out to come back and teams are lined up, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo.

As ex-Portland Trail Blazer Brandon Roy plans his comeback to the NBA, the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves have emerged as serious suitors to sign the former All-Star guard, league sources told Yahoo! Sports…

The Golden State Warriors have also expressed strong interest with Roy. The Warriors’ general manager, Bob Myers, was Roy’s agent with the Wasserman Media Group.

What is the going rate for Roy? Woj says teams are willing to offer their full mid-level exception, about $5 million a year for teams under the luxury tax threshold (about $70 million) and $3 million for teams over that threshold. The Timberwolves reportedly will offer a two year deal. It’s an interesting risk — if healthy enough to give you regular minutes you add an All-Star level player. But how his knees hold up to the grind of h

Roy — if he returns to his preinjury form — certainly could help the Bulls (who will be without Derrick Rose for half the season after ACL in the first game of the playoffs. Or, a healthy Roy on the Pacers squad could push them up to contender status. And so it goes on down the line. Roy has options.

huuuuuh?? Some GMs never learn! You’re paying the guy millions of dollars to play what, 5 games before he’s back on the injured list? Did his knees suddenly regenerate with full fluid and every reporter on earth just missed it? Now we’ll see which GMs have common sense and which ones will never win a championship.

Interesting that a team listed – Dallas – won a championship last year. They seem to know what they’re doing as they’ve done a great job getting production from guys who have had a history of serious injury: Peja, JKidd, Chandler, VC, etc….

Interesting that a team listed – Dallas – has never hired a guy who retired from the league after a season or two or three of serious, career-ending injury. Don’t compare bum ankles or whatever those veterans were able to stay in the league with with career-crippling knee problems.

pglive21 - Jun 26, 2012 at 3:50 PM

Right hwatt, because there’s just so many guys who have retired for a one season and came back to the league. That’s a pretty stupid argument. Has Dallas ever even had the opportunity to hire a guy who had previously retired and then came back from a serious injury in the Cuban era?

Roy has a condition where there is no cartilage between his knees…just bone on bone…he was told by doctors that he risked not being able to walk again; and that was the reason for his retirement, not due to a serious injury.

He needs to prove to people his knees are fine and that e can still play great basketball. Until then I wouldn’t sign him for more than the minimum. When he proves that the millions will start to flow in.

Ok yes we know his knees are bad, but if he only makes a million a year, then that is more than worth it. He probably will never be that good again, but the low budget guys are your bench never see the floor as is unless it’s a scrub game. Kudos on teams willing to roll the dice.

Obviously this is just a list of teams interested in working him out and giving him a physical. Only after he is cleared do they start offering him contracts and taking on the injury risk (mitigated by whatever due diligence they perform).

I actually expect him to fail physicals and end up with a one year prove-it deal just over the veteran minimum. Loved to watch him play, though. Hope he comes back strong.

I think if you look at the teams listed the only team dumb enough to give decent money would be the T-Wolves. The other teams are going to want to give him 1 year deals or “make good” contracts. At the end of it all I think he ends up with the Wolves.

Pending the outcome of his physicals, and how high the $$$’s go, Roy could be an interesting, low-risk move for a team like Indy or Chicago.

I’d be real nervous about giving him the full mid-level exception, though- at that price you are COUNTING on that guy to produce, and that is a rather desperate risk to take this early in the offseason. We’ll see when FA opens.